GERMAN ATTACK ON ROSTOV

Southland Times, Issue 24598, 21 November 1941, Page 5

GERMAN ATTACK ON ROSTOV

The battle for Rostov is in full swing. The Germans have brought up new forces which are attacking on a wide arc running from Novochaktinsk in the north to the Sea of Azov. The spearhead of the attack is a mixed force under General Hans Guderian, comprising a tank division, two infantry divisions and a cavalry unit. The Germans are losing heavily in men and equipment, but they are pressing the offensive with great determination. In one sub-sector, Soviet artillery, aided by special anti-tank units, defeated an entire battalion of infantry and large numbers of tanks. Russians elsewhere, under Commander Kruezer, successfully counter-attacked, cut off and practically wiped out an infantry regiment and also severely mauled other German forces attempting to relieve this regiment. The Germans immediately start to fortify every village captured, evidently aiming at making them tenable for the winter, but despite these precautions the Russians recaptured two fortified villages.

Reports from the Leningrad front state that the Russians defeated a German offensive along the Volkho river, which aimed at joining up with the Finns eastward of Leningrad, but reconnaissances show that a new offensive is under preparation. The Germans are massing troops, including the “Death’s Head” division. The Russians meanwhile recaptured a number of villages lost in the recent German drive to Tikhvin, which appears to have completely petered out. Some of the heaviest fighting on the central front is now centred on Volokalamsk, where the Germans are flinging in large numbers of tanks. They made some headway, but General Rokossovsky’s men prevented a spectacular advance. The Russians also successfully parried a new German blow at Kalinin. The Germans were equally unsuccessful in the Mojaisk sector,

despite the use of “three-ply” tanks to give the appearance of great numbers. The Germans hereabouts sent a column of “alcoholized” infantry into action. The Red Star, organ of the Red Army, reports that the Germans in-

cessantly attacked the approaches to Sebastopol, but were beaten off. The Tass News Agency states that Soviet troops are gradually retreating in the Kerch area.

The Istanbul correspondent of The Times says an interesting feature of the equipment of the German armies in Russia is the presence of mobile oil refineries which follow the advancing forces with the object of refining on the spot whatever stocks of oil they may capture for immediate use by advanced motorized units and aircraft. This tends to confirm both the oil shortage in Germany and the great difficulties of communications confronting the German forces.